Savior II: The Way Of The Force
by Noggins
Summary: Sel'ine Dr'alik joins Mace Windu into battle while the Republic slowly crumbles.


Title: Savior II: The Way Of The Force  
  
Author: Jonathan Evans  
  
Author email: noggins@btinternet.com  
  
More of these stories at the Republic Saga Homepage: http://www.angelfire.com/scifi/republicsaga  
  
Summary: Sel'ine Dr'alik joins Mace Windu into battle while the Republic slowly crumbles.  
  
SAVIOUR II  
THE WAY OF THE FORCE  
By Jonathan Evans  
  
The Jedi Temple was full of rumours about the events that  
were happening all around the galaxy. The Great Clone War  
had been fought for nearly a year and there seemed to be  
no sign of a conclusion. The Clone Armies of the Republic  
were winning victories against the forces that threatened  
them but their grip of control over the systems they won  
back seemed so tight they would never let go. Without  
anyone realising, the planets of the Galactic Republic  
were becoming police states.  
  
Sel'ine Dr'alik had spent much time away from her teacher  
during this time. With him leading the troops into battle  
he had no time to train her. It was a hard time for the  
Jedi Knights as their numbers slowly dwindled in the war  
and without training apprentices there could be no future  
generations. Sel'ine was beginning to realise that no one  
else thought of things through her perspective but there  
was nothing she could do.  
  
It had been three years since Mace Windu took her under  
his wing. No one had chosen her to be their next Padawan  
Learner and Master Windu, remembering her from back on  
Ryloth when he rescued her from a slaver. Now, three  
years on, the Clone Wars had begun and the Jedi were  
sent thousands of parsecs out into deep space to try  
to rescue any hopes of maintaining peace and justice  
in the galaxy.  
  
"Hey! Sel'ine!" a voice behind her called. She turned  
around to see Evajo Siinit, the Padawan of Adi Gallia  
who had also barely survived the early battles. The  
young Twi'lek was glad to see a friend among the hundreds  
of bodies in the Jedi conference room. Evajo fought  
his way to her and smiled. "Have you heard? General  
Kenobi and Skywalker have just won another victory on  
Malastare!" His voice was full of excitement, missing  
from most Jedi these days. Sel'ine admired that in him  
and saw him as a beacon of light in the dark recesses  
the Jedi were slowly becoming. "They think the war could  
be over soon," he continued, trying to get a response  
out of his friend. She just smiled.  
  
"I suppose you know that though," Evajo continued to  
get information out of her. "You being Master Windu's  
apprentice." How could she not admire him for his  
confidence. Maybe overconfidence was the path to the Dark  
Sside of the Force as the Council used to say, but at  
least it made him feel better. "You know I don't see him  
all that much these days," she frowned. "He's too busy  
planning out strategies for battle. Who'd have thought  
the Jedi would come to that?"  
  
Silence filled the room as two completly different  
figures walked onto the stage. One, Master Windu, was  
tall, proud, wearing his Jedi robes like military  
uniform while at his side stood Yoda, dressed in the  
simple outfit of a philosopher. That, Sel'ine thought,  
was what a Jedi should appear like. She admired Yoda  
more than any of the other Jedi Masters she had met  
in her time, not taking into account the slight crush  
she used to have on Master Kenobi.  
  
Windu was the first to speak. "As I'm sure you've already  
heard, our armies have secured Malastare. That is the third  
victory in recent weeks." He looked sternly at everyone  
who was watching him intently. "That does not mean we should  
get over confident. Nearly four thousand Jedi have lost  
their lives already this year and there is a chance more  
could happen. We do not want the mistakes of Geonosis to  
be made again but it seems they already have been."  
  
Yoda took centre stage. Suddenly even the quiet murmurings  
came to a stop. You could have heard a pin drop as all the  
Jedi, from all corners of the galaxy, waited with bated  
breath to hear what the wizened little creature would say.  
He opened his mouth slowly. "Commended Skywalker and Kenobi  
will be. But forget you must not that our ways are those  
of peace, not war. Learn we must that wars not make one  
great."  
  
His stick tapped on the stage and seemed echo though the  
entire Temple. "All I have to say is that." He turned to  
Windu. "Aything else?" The dark skinned human shook his  
head. "I don't think so. You are dismissed."  
  
The Jedi of all shapes, sizes, races, colours and ages  
moved out. Yoda turned quietly to his old friend. "Fear  
I do that the people's opinions of our order are falling.  
Seen to be leading the clones are we and in battles  
many innocent casualties there are." Mace Windu was  
obviously concerned with the same matters.  
"I agree that the planets that are taken back are controlled  
harshly by the Chancellor but it does appear to be we who  
are doing this," he mused. "But there is nothing we can  
do."  
  
"Close to the Chancellor you are. Speak with him you must."  
"I'm not sure what I could say to him. The longer this war  
goes on the more reclusive he is becoming. Nontheless I  
will try." Yoda nodded to Windu who walked down from the  
stage where Sel'ine was waiting for him. At first he was  
shocked by her presence.  
  
"Master, is it true?" she asked, obviously having taken in  
all that the two Jedi Masters had been talking about. "Are  
the people turning against us?"  
Her mentor he nodded regretfully. "It is, Sel'ine. There  
have been several anti-Jedi revolts on Cerea, Toydaria and  
even Naboo." He looked around to see that Yoda had gone  
without them noticing. "It truly is a dark time for our  
order. We can only hope that it comes to an end soon or  
even I cannot predict what will become of the galaxy."  
  
********  
  
When Sel'ine saw her teacher next he was leaving Chancellor  
Palpatine's quarters looking dismayed. She hadn't seen him  
like this before but she knew it was something serious.  
She walked carefully towards him, expecting some kind of  
telling off for being too inquisitive. "Master?" she asked  
to get his attention. He turned to her and gave a strained  
smile. "What's happened?"  
  
"The Chancellor has ordered an attack on an enemy cloning  
facility on the moon of Piteki IV. We are making the first  
move." He looked around before speaking in a quieter voice.  
"I have been ordered to lead the battle secretly. I must  
mobilise a Jedi and clone army at once."  
"Aren't you going to tell Master Yoda?" The Twi'lek girl  
was becoming increasingly unnerved by her master's words.  
But there was something else, something inside him that he  
seemed to be hiding. There was something he was afraid to  
tell her.  
  
"I'm coming with you, aren't I?" she questionned him slowly.  
It was something to do with her that was worrying him. She  
needed to find out what exactly it was. He looked at her  
with caring eyes and shook his head. "You have no real  
experience in battle. I do not want to lose you."  
"But surely we'll win. The facility probably isn't that well  
guarded plus we'll catch them by surprise. And what other  
was am I to gain this 'experience'?"  
  
He was still hiding something. What had Palpatine asked of  
him? There was no way she could dig any deeper without  
arousing his suspicions. Then he spoke. "I have a feeling,  
a premonition, my student. This will not be a victory. I  
know deep down, the Force has told me, that we cannont win  
this. We're not meant to win it. Yet I must fight, I must  
lead Jedi to their deaths. You do not understand it, but one  
day you will when the Force truly begins to speak to you."  
  
He turned away and began to walk off. "I can't say any more."  
And with those words he was gone, leaving Sel'ine more  
worried about his well being than she ever had before.  
  
********  
  
Evajo Siinit sat alone in his quarters meditating. Just in  
front of him, his lightsaber was hovering in mid air, spinning  
slowly. He sensed a presence nearby and put it down onto the  
ground. "Sel'ine," he smiled until he saw the serious  
expression on her face. "What's wrong?"  
  
"It's Master Windu," she said as she sat down in front of  
her friend. "I don't think I should even know this and I  
definately shouldn't be telling you but he's been ordered  
to lead an army to Piteki IV. He's sure we're going to lose  
but has to do it anyway."  
  
Siinit noticed how concerned Sel'ine was for her master. It  
was understandible. He had saved her from a life of slavery  
to become a Jedi Knight. Without him who knows where she  
would have been now. The young man nodded. "If it's the way  
of the Force then he must do it."  
  
Sel'ine shook her head. "No. He's worried. When I offered to  
come with him he said no but there was something inside him  
which told me he knew more than he was letting on." She sighed  
out loud and started to play nervously with her head tails.  
"Something's wrong, Evajo. Something dark is happening and  
Master Windu knows. He's trying to protect me from it, I'm  
sure, but he knows."  
  
"You should be glad he wants to save you from it," Evajo  
shrugged but Sel'ine glared at him. "He's been like a father  
to me. Back on Ryloth we were told not to trust humans but  
he's proved to me that you've got to look deeper than the  
surface."  
  
"And are you?" the human Padawan asked cautiously.  
  
********  
  
Adi Gallia sat in Palpatine's office watching as the Chancellor  
paced up and down, occasionally glancing out of the window.  
He finally turned to her and spoke. "Surely you don't believe  
what your apprentice has told you?" he said. "My policies go  
against any attacks on systems without approval of the  
Jedi Council."  
  
"It isn't what he said, Chancellor," Gallia continued. "It's  
more of what I felt him thinking. He is concerned, as I  
and other members of the Council are, that this war is  
becoming more of a political struggle than it is a  
fight for freedom."  
  
Palpatine visibly frowned. It was rare that he showed any  
emotion but this really hit him hard. "Freedom is something  
that cannot be spoken of so flippantly. To have freedom we  
must first make sure it can't be so easily lost again."  
  
"So holding planets by force won't last?" the Jedi woman  
asked, using all of her diplomatice skills. "The public  
are beginning to worry."  
  
"They shouldn't," the Chancellor said carefully. "Without  
control there would be no freedom there would be anarchy."  
  
********  
  
It came as a shock to Sel'ine when Mace Windu arrived at  
her quarters and told her to come to the landing bay  
where a starship would be waiting. She followed, worrying  
that something more serious than she imagined would happen.  
Reaching their destination, Windu showed her a small black  
vessel where fifteen Jedi and around thirty armoured clones  
were waiting. She turned to him. "What's going on?"  
  
"You're coming with us," he informed her. "I agree with  
everything you told me yesterday, but please, don't do  
anything stupid. I don't want to lose you, Sel'ine."  
"Yes, master..." she began. "But..."  
"We haven't got much time. The Council will realise we're  
gone soon. Hurry. Get on board."  
  
Sel'ine jumped onto the landing ramp and was quickly followed  
by the troops and the Jedi. She looked back to see Mace  
glancing nervously towards a set of doors leading into the  
main part of the Jedi Temple. He quickly shook his head  
and jumped on board as the ramp slowly moved up.  
  
********  
  
"Someone on that vessel knows of our plans," the hooded  
figure of Darth Sidious said to the man standing next to  
him. "Whoever it is could destroy our chances of  
obtaining this most pleasing vistory."  
  
His companion nodded but obviously didn't agree. Lord  
Tyrranus, Count Dooku as most knew him, had other  
thoughts on how this would aid the Sith cause. "No,"  
he stated. "If things go as planned no one will survive  
this except for our leak."  
  
Sidious nodded thoughfully as the black starship disappeared  
into the night's sky. "True. I underestimate him at times  
but he does exactly what we want him to." The two  
dark clad figures disappeared into the apartment and  
could no longer be seen.  
  
********  
  
Sitting next to Sel'ine was a Rodian Jedi. She turned and  
gave a weak smile. "Hi," she said. "You're hear for the  
long haul too, huh?" The Rodian shrugged and turned away.  
He was nervous, scared even. In these times even the Jedi  
Code was starting to mean nothing. Only four Council Members  
had survived the massacre on Geonosis. Her teacher, Master  
Yoda, Plo Koon and Adi Gallia. Maybe Master Ki-Adi-Mundi  
would be around now if he hadn't been forced by Master  
Gallia to go to the planet while she took on the seemingly  
more dangerous task of dealing with the Droid Control  
Ship above the planet.  
  
There was a shudder as the ship entered hyperspace. She  
had made the effort of looking at star charts before she  
left Coruscant, before she even knew Master Windu would  
change his mind about taking her. Piteki IV wasn't far  
from the centre of the Republic and it would take them  
less than twelve standard hours to get there. Still, it  
was going to be a long jounrney.  
  
********  
  
Seven hours into the voyage and the Jedi were becoming  
increasingly worried. Sel'ine had looked into the cargo  
hold where the Clonetroopers were sitting eerily calm  
in preparation for the battle. They hardly moved. They  
didn't seem human yet they were if you looked at it  
from a certain point of view.  
  
She walked towards Master Windu's private chambers. There  
was a blue light coming from the darkness. Looking closer  
she saw her teacher talking to a hologram. Whoever it  
was didn't look familiar yet she sensed... something.  
Although she couldn't hear what was being said the conversation  
seemed to stop. Mace turned around but Sel'ine had disappeared  
from sight.  
  
********  
  
The Jedi starship came down just outside the cloning facility,  
a specially designed cloaking device rendering it invisible  
to any sensors that were present in the huge complex before  
them. The landing ramp opened with a hiss and Sel'ine noticed  
the Rodian shudder. He shyed away from the exit as the Clones  
left first followed by the Jedi. She put her hand on his  
shoulder. "It'll be alright," she said half to reassure  
him and half for herself.  
  
They were the last to leave and a loud battle had begun  
before they'd even got off the ramp. Hundreds of Destroyer  
Droids and Super Battle Droids had ambushed them. Sel'ine  
held out her hand and the lightsaber at her side flew into  
it. The green blade extended almost too slowly as a blast  
flew towards her head. It was deflected with only nanoseconds  
to spare.  
  
On instinct, Sel'ine launched herself forward, hacking the head  
off the droid that fired at her. It fell lifelessly to the floor.  
She looked around to see Clonetroopers being shot down while  
Jedi struggled to maintain control of the situation. Mace  
Windu seemed to be heading towards the entrace of the metal  
building. Two Jedi and several Clonetroopers followed and  
were blasted to pieces by turbo lasers mounted around the  
top, powerful enough to take out a starfighter.  
  
Pushing her way towards her tutor, she sliced and hacked  
at the droids that were firing at her. A green hand touched  
her and she twisted around. The Rodian Jedi! He was still  
alive and had clung onto her as being his only hope to  
get out alive. She couldn't hear him above the noise of  
battle and wasn't very good at lip-reading most of the  
less humanoid species. "I'm trying to find my Master!"  
she shouted as loudly as she could. He seemed to understand  
and followed her towards the entrance.  
  
The turbo laser fire rained down on them but, expecting the  
onslaught, Sel'ine's lightsaber deflected most of the  
attacks that rained down on them. Her companion did the  
same and they got to the hole in the durasteel blastdoor  
that Mace Windu had sliced through. There was an explosion  
above her as a thermal detonator thrown by a Clonetrooper  
took out one of the laser mountings. She dragged the  
Rodian inside to avoid the flying shrapnel.  
  
********  
  
The cloning facility itself was pretty basic. The metal  
walls that seemed to go on forever were dull and grey  
and there seemed to be no sign of life. The two Jedi  
ran through the corridors before the Republic troops  
could trample them in their relentless attempts to  
follow orders.  
  
"I sense something..." the Rodian said quietly. "In here."  
He motioned towards a door and the two stopped running.  
Sel'ine touched the metal and realised that there was  
a life form in there. Only one though. She ignited her  
lightsaber and cut it open.  
  
The lights were out as they stepped in. A cloaked figure  
was in front of them, leaning on a damaged computer  
console. The light coming from her weapon caused the  
mysterious stranger to turn around. Sel'ine suddenly  
realised who it was.  
  
"Master Windu!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing?"  
Mace turned around. "It was a trap. This facility  
has been closed down for months. The information we  
were given was incorrect. So many lives have been  
lost. It's all my fault."  
"No, Master. It isn't. It's not your fault..."  
  
The worryingly quiet Rodian finally spoke up again. "If  
I am correct, Master, it was the Chancellor who ordered  
the attack." If his words were meant to comfort Mace  
they didn't work. His eyes began to fire up. "Of course!  
There had a be a leak. Someone who would try to damage  
Palpatine's reputation. I would never have thought it  
would be a Jedi..."  
  
Before Sel'ine could react, Mace's lightsaber sliced  
through the Rodian. The two pieces hit the floor with  
a thud. The young Twi'lek looked up from the steaming  
remains to her teacher's eyes. She saw something in  
them that scared her. "Master!"  
  
"He must have been working for the enemy, trying to  
lead us into a battle that we would lose. My fears  
were correct." His turned off his weapon and put it  
back at his side. His apprentice look more and more  
nervous. Mace tried to explain. "I had a message on  
the journey that there was someone on our starship  
who was leading us into this trap. I couldn't do  
anything but continue. When I saw the deaths..."  
  
"Are you even sure it was him?" Sel'ine said, becoming  
more and more erratic. "You struck out so fast. I...  
I even sensed anger."  
  
Windu didn't look at her. He bowed his head. It was  
a humbling experience to have your mistakes pointed  
out by a Padawan. All the deaths, the losses, they'd  
all got to him. He needed release and this was the  
only way he could get it. Memories of the day just  
over ten years previously came to him as he refused  
the training of Anakin Skywalker because he sensed  
anger in him and yet here he was, a senior Jedi  
Master, resorting to it. What a hypocrite he'd become.  
He turned around and left the room. This had to end.  
He had to call a retreat.  
  
Sel'ine stood alone sensing the feelings that went  
through her teacher's mind. Something was going  
to happen soon. Something dark.  
  
********  
  
The starship journey back to Coruscant was a somber one.  
Only two other Jedi had survived, the Clonetroopers were  
slighly better off with twenty alive but over half of them  
seriously wounded.  
  
Sel'ine sat quietly. Master Windu was alone in his quarters  
and she didn't want to disturb him. The remaining members  
of the Council would not be happy with this but she  
hoped the presence of Mace would have calmed Yoda down  
slightly. Somehow she doubted it. A serious mistake had  
been made but still she refused to believe the Rodian  
had been the cause of it. She eyed the two Jedi sitting  
in separate corners of the room.  
  
The first was human, nervous, scared. He was suffering from  
severe shell shock, his arm shot off at the elbow. Noticing  
Sel'ine watching him, he turned away. The other survivor  
was a female Zabrak. Two of her horns had been lost and  
the wounds were bleeding. She didn't seem to care about  
stopping the flow as it came down her face. Sel'ine  
recognised her as Detori, a Knight who passed the Tests  
around the time she herself had become a Padawan. Neither  
of them seemed the type to betray them. Would someone be  
willing to risk their own lives for that?  
  
She slowly began to realise she was the least injured.  
A blaster wound on her side that she barely noticed appear  
was all that she had to show she was even there. The  
other Jedi probably thought she was the one. Her eyes  
glanced towards the door to Master Windu's quarters. Around  
the edges was the familiar eery blue light of a hologram.  
Sel'ine began to fear the worst...  
  
END!  



End file.
